ANGRY customers described the situation as a "joke" and claimed they waited almost weeks before the problem was finally fixed on Tuesday.

TELECOMMUNICATION giant O2 have apologised after leaving Coatbridge residents without a mobile phone signal for up to four weeks.

A mast in Summerlee had been “impacted”, leading to an almost total loss of signal.

Angry customers described the situation as a “joke”, claiming they waited almost a month before the problem was finally fixed on Tuesday.

Coatbridge resident Anne McClurg was left “extremely frustrated” after shelling out more than £120 for a new phone, thinking that her handset was the problem.

She told the Advertiser: “A mast in the area was down, leaving us with absolutely no mobile reception for four weeks. It’s not just us this affected. Our neighbours were all having problems too. It’s a complete joke.

“I even went out and bought a new phone because I thought that was the problem.

“It just isn’t good enough.

“I call family on a regular basis and I’ve been unable to do so as a result of this.

“My work also called on several occasions to ask if I was available and they were obviously unable to get through to me.”

She added: “It is a ridiculous amount of time for their service to be completely down. We were having to drive for about a mile before we got any mobile reception.

“Their customer service has been pretty poor too, if I’m honest. However, they did get in touch to offer me a new phone with a new contract and provider last week, so they finally seem to be doing something about it.”

O2 told the Advertiser that they had a problem with a mast at a site near Gartsherrie industrial estate which had led to a loss of signal.

The company also had to wait for the site landlord to grant access before any repairs work could take place.

A spokesman said: “Engineers have been granted access to the site and the service is now operational again.

“Incidents like this are rare and we apologise to our customers for any inconvenience.”